Improved two-stage grants in unlicensed cells

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a user equipment (UE) scheduled with uplink radio resources. At least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the UE and a base station (BS). The UE receives from the BS a first-stage uplink scheduling message. The UE determines whether the first-stage uplink scheduling message is valid, which comprises determining that it is valid in case one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink scheduling message are set to respectively predetermined values. The UE receives from the BS a second-stage uplink scheduling message related to the first-stage uplink scheduling message. The UE determines, when receiving the second-stage uplink scheduling message, that an uplink transmission is scheduled in case it determined that the first-stage uplink scheduling message is valid. The UE then performs, in case it determined that an uplink transmission is scheduled, an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to user equipments and radio base stations for scheduling uplink resources in unlicensed cells, as well as to methods for operating radio base stations and the user equipments accordingly.

Description of the Related Art Long Term Evolution (LTE)

Third-generation mobile systems (3G) based on WCDMA radio-access technology are being deployed on a broad scale all around the world. A first step in enhancing or evolving this technology entails introducing High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and an enhanced uplink, also referred to as High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), giving a radio access technology that is highly competitive.

In order to be prepared for further increasing user demands and to be competitive against new radio access technologies, 3GPP introduced a new mobile communication system which is called Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is designed to meet the carrier needs for high speed data and media transport as well as high capacity voice support for the next decade.

The work item (WI) specification on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) called Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) is finalized as Release 8 (LTE Rel. 8). The LTE system represents efficient packet-based radio access and radio access networks that provide full IP-based functionalities with low latency and low cost. In LTE, scalable multiple transmission bandwidths are specified such as 1.4, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 MHz, in order to achieve flexible system deployment using a given spectrum. In the downlink, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-based radio access was adopted because of its inherent immunity to multipath interference (MPI) due to a low symbol rate, the use of a cyclic prefix (CP) and its affinity to different transmission bandwidth arrangements. Single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA)-based radio access was adopted in the uplink, since provisioning of wide area coverage was prioritized over improvement in the peak data rate considering the restricted transmit power of the user equipment (UE). Many key packet radio access techniques are employed including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel transmission techniques and a highly efficient control signaling structure is achieved in LTE Rel. 8/9.

LTE Architecture

The overall LTE architecture is shown in FIG. 1. The E-UTRAN consists of an eNodeB, providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user equipment (UE). The eNodeB (eNB) hosts the Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC) and Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) layers that include the functionality of user-plane header compression and encryption. It also offers Radio Resource Control (RRC) functionality corresponding to the control plane. It performs many functions including radio resource management, admission control, scheduling, enforcement of negotiated uplink Quality of Service (QoS), cell information broadcast, ciphering/deciphering of user and control plane data, and compression/decompression of downlink/uplink user plane packet headers. The eNodeBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface.

The eNodeBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core), more specifically to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) by means of the S1-MME and to the Serving Gateway (SGW) by means of the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and eNodeBs. The SGW routes and forwards user data packets, while also acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies (terminating S4 interface and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G systems and PDN GW). For idle-state user equipments, the SGW terminates the downlink data path and triggers paging when downlink data arrives for the user equipment. It manages and stores user equipment contexts, e.g., parameters of the IP bearer service, or network internal routing information. It also performs replication of the user traffic in case of lawful interception.

The MME is the key control-node for the LTE access-network. It is responsible for idle-mode user equipment tracking and paging procedure including retransmissions. It is involved in the bearer activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing the SGW for a user equipment at the initial attach and at the time of intra-LTE handover involving Core Network (CN) node relocation. It is responsible for authenticating the user (by interacting with the HSS). The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME, and it is also responsible for the generation and allocation of temporary identities to user equipments. It checks the authorization of the user equipment to camp on the service provider's Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and enforces user equipment roaming restrictions. The MME is the termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection for NAS signaling and handles the security key management. Lawful interception of signaling is also supported by the MME. The MME also provides the control plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3G access networks with the S3 interface terminating at the MME from the SGSN. The MME also terminates the S6a interface towards the home HSS for roaming user equipments.

Component Carrier Structure in LTE

The downlink component carrier of a 3GPP LTE system is subdivided in the time-frequency domain in so-called subframes. In 3GPP LTE each subframe is divided into two downlink slots as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the first downlink slot comprises the control channel region (PDCCH region) within the first OFDM symbols. Each subframe consists of a give number of OFDM symbols in the time domain (12 or 14 OFDM symbols in 3GPP LTE (Release 8)), wherein each OFDM symbol spans over the entire bandwidth of the component carrier. The OFDM symbols thus each consist of a number of modulation symbols transmitted on respective subcarriers. In LTE, the transmitted signal in each slot is described by a resource grid of N_(RB) ^(DL)N_(sc) ^(RB) subcarriers and N_(symb) ^(DL) OFDM symbols. N_(RB) ^(DL) is the number of resource blocks within the bandwidth. The quantity N_(RB) ^(DL) depends on the downlink transmission bandwidth configured in the cell and shall fulfill N_(RB) ^(min,DL)≤N_(RB) ^(DL)≤N_(RB) ^(max,DL), where N_(RB) ^(min,DL)=6 and N_(RB) ^(max,DL)=110 are respectively the smallest and the largest downlink bandwidths, supported by the current version of the specification. N_(sc) ^(RB) is the number of subcarriers within one resource block. For normal cyclic prefix subframe structure, N_(sc) ^(RB)=12 and N_(symb) ^(DL)=7.

Assuming a multi-carrier communication system, e.g., employing OFDM, as for example used in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), the smallest unit of resources that can be assigned by the scheduler is one “resource block”. A physical resource block (PRB) is defined as consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 7 OFDM symbols) and consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain as exemplified in FIG. 2 (e.g., 12 subcarriers for a component carrier). In 3GPP LTE (Release 8), a physical resource block thus consists of resource elements, corresponding to one slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain (for further details on the downlink resource grid, see for example 3GPP TS 36.211, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 8)”, current version 12.6.0, section 6.2, available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference).

One subframe consists of two slots, so that there are 14 OFDM symbols in a subframe when a so-called “normal” CP (cyclic prefix) is used, and 12 OFDM symbols in a subframe when a so-called “extended” CP is used. For sake of terminology, in the following the time-frequency resources equivalent to the same consecutive subcarriers spanning a full subframe is called a “resource block pair”, or equivalent “RB pair” or “PRB pair”. The term “component carrier” refers to a combination of several resource blocks in the frequency domain. In future releases of LTE, the term “component carrier” is no longer used; instead, the terminology is changed to “cell”, which refers to a combination of downlink and optionally uplink resources. The linking between the carrier frequency of the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplink resources is indicated in the system information transmitted on the downlink resources.

Similar assumptions for the component carrier structure will apply to later releases too.

Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A for Support of Wider Bandwidth

The frequency spectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided at the World Radio communication Conference 2007 (WRC-07). Although the overall frequency spectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided, the actual available frequency bandwidth is different according to each region or country. Following the decision on the available frequency spectrum outline, however, standardization of a radio interface started in the 3rd

Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

The bandwidth that the LTE-Advanced system is able to support is 100 MHz, while an LTE system can only support 20 MHz. Nowadays, the lack of radio spectrum has become a bottleneck of the development of wireless networks, and as a result it is difficult to find a spectrum band which is wide enough for the LTE-Advanced system. Consequently, it is urgent to find a way to gain a wider radio spectrum band, wherein a possible answer is the carrier aggregation functionality.

In carrier aggregation, two or more component carriers are aggregated in order to support wider transmission bandwidths up to 100 MHz. Several cells in the LTE system are aggregated into one wider channel in the LTE-Advanced system which is wide enough for 100 MHz even though these cells in LTE may be in different frequency bands. All component carriers can be configured to be LTE Rel. 8/9 compatible, at least when the bandwidth of a component carrier does not exceed the supported bandwidth of an LTE Rel. 8/9 cell. Not all component carriers aggregated by a user equipment may necessarily be Rel. 8/9 compatible. Existing mechanisms (e.g., barring) may be used to avoid Rel-8/9 user equipments to camp on a component carrier.

A user equipment may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple component carriers (corresponding to multiple serving cells) depending on its capabilities. An LTE-A Rel. 10 user equipment with reception and/or transmission capabilities for carrier aggregation can simultaneously receive and/or transmit on multiple serving cells, whereas an LTE Rel. 8/9 user equipment can receive and transmit on a single serving cell only, provided that the structure of the component carrier follows the Rel. 8/9 specifications.

Carrier aggregation is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous component carriers with each component carrier limited to a maximum of 110 Resource Blocks in the frequency domain (using the 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9) numerology).

It is possible to configure a 3GPP LTE-A (Release 10)-compatible user equipment to aggregate a different number of component carriers originating from the same eNodeB (base station) and of possibly different bandwidths in the uplink and the downlink. The number of downlink component carriers that can be configured depends on the downlink aggregation capability of the UE. Conversely, the number of uplink component carriers that can be configured depends on the uplink aggregation capability of the UE. It may currently not be possible to configure a mobile terminal with more uplink component carriers than downlink component carriers. In a typical TDD deployment the number of component carriers and the bandwidth of each component carrier in uplink and downlink is the same. Component carriers originating from the same eNodeB need not provide the same coverage.

The spacing between center frequencies of contiguously aggregated component carriers shall be a multiple of 300 kHz. This is in order to be compatible with the 100 kHz frequency raster of 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9) and at the same time to preserve orthogonality of the subcarriers with 15 kHz spacing. Depending on the aggregation scenario, the n×300 kHz spacing can be facilitated by insertion of a low number of unused subcarriers between contiguous component carriers.

The nature of the aggregation of multiple carriers is only exposed up to the MAC layer. For both uplink and downlink there is one HARQ entity required in MAC for each aggregated component carrier. There is (in the absence of SU-MIMO for uplink) at most one transport block per component carrier. A transport block and its potential HARQ retransmission(s) need to be mapped on the same component carrier.

When carrier aggregation is configured, the mobile terminal only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment/re-establishment, one cell provides the security input (one ECGI, one PCI and one ARFCN) and the non-access stratum mobility information (e.g., TAI) similarly as in LTE Rel. 8/9. After RRC connection establishment/re-establishment, the component carrier corresponding to that cell is referred to as the downlink Primary Cell (PCell). There is always one and only one downlink PCell (DL PCell) and one uplink PCell (UL PCell) configured per user equipment in connected state. Within the configured set of component carriers, other cells are referred to as Secondary Cells (SCells); with carriers of the SCell being the Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC) and Uplink Secondary Component Carrier (UL SCC). Maximum five serving cells, including the PCell, can be configured at the moment for one UE.

The configuration and reconfiguration, as well as addition and removal, of component carriers can be performed by RRC. Activation and deactivation is done e.g., via MAC control elements. At intra-LTE handover, RRC can also add, remove, or reconfigure SCells for usage in the target cell. When adding a new SCell, dedicated RRC signaling is used for sending the system information of the SCell, the information being necessary for transmission/reception (similarly as in Rel-8/9 for handover). Each SCell is configured with a serving cell index, when the SCell is added to one UE; PCell has always the serving cell index 0.

When a user equipment is configured with carrier aggregation there is at least one pair of uplink and downlink component carriers that is always active. The downlink component carrier of that pair might be also referred to as ‘DL anchor carrier’. Same applies also for the uplink. When carrier aggregation is configured, a user equipment may be scheduled on multiple component carriers simultaneously, but at most one random access procedure shall be ongoing at any time. Cross-carrier scheduling allows the PDCCH of a component carrier to schedule resources on another component carrier. For this purpose a component carrier identification field is introduced in the respective DCI (Downlink Control Information) formats, called CIF.

A linking, established by RRC signaling, between uplink and downlink component carriers allows identifying the uplink component carrier for which the grant applies when there is no cross-carrier scheduling. The linkage of downlink component carriers to uplink component carrier does not necessarily need to be one to one. In other words, more than one downlink component carrier can link to the same uplink component carrier. At the same time, a downlink component carrier can only link to one uplink component carrier.

Uplink/Downlink Scheduling

A MAC function in the eNodeB refers to scheduling, by which the eNB distributes the available radio resources in one cell among the UEs and among the radio bearers for each UE. In principle, the eNodeB allocates the downlink and uplink resources to each UE based on respectively the downlink data buffered in the eNodeB and based on buffer status reports (BSRs) received from the UE. In this process, the eNodeB considers the QoS requirements of each configured radio bearer and selects the size of the MAC PDU.

The usual mode of scheduling is dynamic scheduling, by means of downlink grant/assignment messages (DCIs) for the allocation of downlink transmission resources and uplink grant/assignment messages for the allocation of uplink transmission resources. They are transmitted on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) using a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) to identify the intended UE. In addition to the dynamic scheduling, persistent scheduling is defined, which enables radio resources to be semi-statically configured and allocated to a UE for a longer time period than one subframe, thus avoiding the need for specific downlink assignment messages or uplink grant messages over the PDCCH for each subframe. For the configuration or reconfiguration of a persistent schedule, RRC signaling indicates the resource allocation interval at which the radio resources are periodically assigned. When the PDCCH is used to configure or reconfigure a persistent schedule, it is necessary to distinguish the scheduling messages which apply to a persistent schedule from those used for dynamic scheduling. For this purpose, a special scheduling identity is used, known as the semi-persistent scheduling C-RNTI, SPS-C-RNTI, which for each UE is different from the C-RNTI used for dynamic scheduling messages.

In order to inform the scheduled users about their allocation status, transport format and other transmission-related information (e.g., HARQ information, transmit power control (TPC) commands), L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the downlink along with the data. L1/L2 control signaling is multiplexed with the downlink data in a subframe, assuming that the user allocation can change from subframe to subframe. It should be noted that user allocation might also be performed on a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) basis, where the TTI length can be a multiple of the subframes. The TTI length may be fixed in a service area for all users, may be different for different users, or may even by dynamic for each user. Generally, the L1/2 control signaling needs only be transmitted once per TTI. Without loss of generality, the following assumes that a TTI is equivalent to one subframe.

The L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). A PDCCH carries a message as a Downlink Control Information (DCI), which in most cases includes resource assignments and other control information for a mobile terminal or groups of UEs. In general, several PDCCHs can be transmitted in one subframe.

Downlink control information occurs in several formats that differ in overall size and also in the information contained in their fields. The different DCI formats that are currently defined for LTE are described in detail in 3GPP TS 36.212, “Multiplexing and channel coding”, section 5.3.3.1 (current version v12.6.0 available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference). For detailed information regarding the DCI formats and the particular information that is transmitted in the DCI, please refer to the mentioned technical standard or to LTE—The UMTS Long Term Evolution—From Theory to Practice, Edited by Stefanie Sesia, Issam Toufik, Matthew Baker, Chapter 9.3, incorporated herein by reference. Additional formats may be defined in the future.

Layer 1/Layer 2 Control Signaling

In order to inform the scheduled users about their allocation status, transport format, and other transmission-related information (e.g., HARQ information, transmit power control (TPC) commands), L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the downlink along with the data. L1/L2 control signaling is multiplexed with the downlink data in a subframe, assuming that the user allocation can change from subframe to subframe. It should be noted that user allocation might also be performed on a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) basis, where the TTI length can be a multiple of the subframes. The TTI length may be fixed in a service area for all users, may be different for different users, or may even by dynamic for each user. Generally, the L1/2 control signaling needs only be transmitted once per TTI. Without loss of generality, the following assumes that a TTI is equivalent to one subframe.

The L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). A PDCCH carries a message as a Downlink Control Information (DCI), which in most cases includes resource assignments and other control information for a mobile terminal or groups of UEs. In general, several PDCCHs can be transmitted in one subframe.

It should be noted that in 3GPP LTE, assignments for uplink data transmissions, also referred to as uplink scheduling grants or uplink resource assignments, are also transmitted on the PDCCH. Furthermore, 3GPP Release 11 introduced an EPDCCH that fulfills basically the same function as the PDCCH, i.e., conveys L1/L2 control signaling, even though the detailed transmission methods are different from the PDCCH. Further details can be found in the current versions of 3GPP TS 36.211 and 36.213, incorporated herein by reference. Consequently, most items outlined in the background and the embodiments apply to PDCCH as well as EPDCCH, or other means of conveying L1/L2 control signals, unless specifically noted.

Generally, the information sent in the L1/L2 control signaling for assigning uplink or downlink radio resources (particularly LTE(-A) Release 10) can be categorized to the following items:

-   -   User identity, indicating the user that is allocated. This is         typically included in the checksum by masking the CRC with the         user identity;     -   Resource allocation information, indicating the resources (e.g.,         Resource Blocks, RBs) on which a user is allocated.         Alternatively this information is termed resource block         assignment (RBA). Note, that the number of RBs on which a user         is allocated can be dynamic;     -   Carrier indicator, which is used if a control channel         transmitted on a first carrier assigns resources that concern a         second carrier, i.e., resources on a second carrier or resources         related to a second carrier; (cross carrier scheduling);     -   Modulation and coding scheme that determines the employed         modulation scheme and coding rate;     -   HARQ information, such as a new data indicator (NDI) and/or a         redundancy version (RV) that is particularly useful in         retransmissions of data packets or parts thereof;     -   Power control commands to adjust the transmit power of the         assigned uplink data or control information transmission;     -   Reference signal information such as the applied cyclic shift         and/or orthogonal cover code index, which are to be employed for         transmission or reception of reference signals related to the         assignment;     -   Uplink or downlink assignment index that is used to identify an         order of assignments, which is particularly useful in TDD         systems;     -   Hopping information, e.g., an indication whether and how to         apply resource hopping in order to increase the frequency         diversity;     -   CSI request, which is used to trigger the transmission of         channel state information in an assigned resource; and     -   Multi-cluster information, which is a flag used to indicate and         control whether the transmission occurs in a single cluster         (contiguous set of RBs) or in multiple clusters (at least two         non-contiguous sets of contiguous RBs). Multi-cluster allocation         has been introduced by 3GPP LTE-(A) Release 10.

It is to be noted that the above listing is non-exhaustive, and not all mentioned information items need to be present in each PDCCH transmission depending on the DCI format that is used.

Downlink control information occurs in several formats that differ in overall size and also in the information contained in their fields as mentioned above. In the following, some DCI formats are listed as currently defined for LTE. More detailed information is provided in the 3GPP technical standard TS 36.212 v14.0.0, particularly in section 5.3.3.1 “DCI formats”, incorporated herein by reference.

-   -   Format 0: DCI Format 0 is used for the transmission of resource         grants for the PUSCH, using single-antenna port transmissions in         uplink transmission mode 1 or 2.     -   Format 1: DCI Format 1 is used for the transmission of resource         assignments for single codeword PDSCH transmissions (downlink         transmission modes 1, 2 and 7).     -   Format 1A: DCI Format 1A is used for compact signaling of         resource assignments for single codeword PDSCH transmissions,         and for allocating a dedicated preamble signature to a mobile         terminal for contention-free random access (for all         transmissions modes).     -   Format 1B: DCI Format 1B is used for compact signaling of         resource assignments for PDSCH transmissions using closed loop         precoding with rank-1 transmission (downlink transmission mode         6). The information transmitted is the same as in Format 1A, but         with the addition of an indicator of the precoding vector         applied for the PDSCH transmission.     -   Format 1C: DCI Format 1C is used for very compact transmission         of PDSCH assignments. When format 1C is used, the PDSCH         transmission is constrained to using QPSK modulation. This is         used, for example, for signaling paging messages and broadcast         system information messages.     -   Format 1D: DCI Format 1D is used for compact signaling of         resource assignments for PDSCH transmission using multi-user         MIMO. The information transmitted is the same as in Format 1B,         but instead of one of the bits of the precoding vector         indicators, there is a single bit to indicate whether a power         offset is applied to the data symbols. This feature is needed to         show whether or not the transmission power is shared between two         UEs. Future versions of LTE may extend this to the case of power         sharing between larger numbers of UEs.     -   Format 2: DCI Format 2 is used for the transmission of resource         assignments for PDSCH for closed-loop MIMO operation         (transmission mode 4).     -   Format 2A: DCI Format 2A is used for the transmission of         resource assignments for PDSCH for open-loop MIMO operation. The         information transmitted is the same as for Format 2, except that         if the eNodeB has two transmit antenna ports, there is no         precoding information, and for four antenna ports two bits are         used to indicate the transmission rank (transmission mode 3).     -   Format 2B: Introduced in Release 9 and is used for the         transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for dual-layer         beamforming (transmission mode 8).     -   Format 2C: Introduced in Release 10 and is used for the         transmission of resource assignments for PDSCH for closed-loop         single-user or multi-user MIMO operation with up to 8 layers         (transmission mode 9).     -   Format 2D: introduced in Release 11 and used for up to 8 layer         transmissions; mainly used for COMP (Cooperative Multipoint)         (transmission mode 10)     -   Format 3 and 3A: DCI formats 3 and 3A are used for the         transmission of power control commands for PUCCH and PUSCH with         2-bit or 1-bit power adjustments respectively. These DCI formats         contain individual power control commands for a group of UEs.     -   Format 4: DCI format 4 is used for the scheduling of the PUSCH,         using closed-loop spatial multiplexing transmissions in uplink         transmission mode 2.     -   Format 5: DCI format 5 is used for the scheduling of the PSCCH         (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and also contains several         SCI format 0 fields used for the scheduling of the PSSCH         (Physical Sidelink Shared Control Channel). If the number of         information bits in DCI format 5 mapped onto a given search         space is less than the payload size of format 0 for scheduling         the same serving cell, zeros shall be appended to format 5 until         the payload size equals that of format 0 including any padding         bits appended to format 0.

LTE on Unlicensed Bands—Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA)

In September 2014, 3GPP initiated a new study item on LTE operation on unlicensed spectrum. The reason for extending LTE to unlicensed bands is the ever-growing demand for wireless broadband data in conjunction with the limited amount of licensed bands. The unlicensed spectrum therefore is more and more considered by cellular operators as a complementary tool to augment their service offering. One advantage of LTE in unlicensed bands compared to relying on other radio access technologies (RAT) such as Wi-Fi is that complementing the LTE platform with unlicensed spectrum access enables operators and vendors to leverage the existing or planned investments in LTE/EPC hardware in the radio and core network.

However, it has to be taken into account that unlicensed spectrum access can never match the qualities of licensed spectrum access due to the inevitable coexistence with other radio access technologies (RATs) in the unlicensed spectrum such as Wi-Fi. LTE operation on unlicensed bands will therefore at least in the beginning be considered a complement to LTE on licensed spectrum rather than as stand-alone operation on unlicensed spectrum. Based on this assumption, 3GPP established the term Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) for the LTE operation on unlicensed bands in conjunction with at least one licensed band. Future stand-alone operation of LTE on unlicensed spectrum i.e., without being assisted by licensed cells, however shall not be excluded. Enhanced Licensed Assisted Access (eLAA) is enhancement to LAA, particularly exploiting the unlicensed spectrum in the uplink as well. Efficient use of unlicensed spectrum as a complement to licensed spectrum has the potential to bring great value to service providers, and, ultimately, to the wireless industry as a whole. To leverage the full benefits of LTE operation in unlicensed spectrum, it is of outmost importance to define a complete UL access scheme in addition to the already defined DL access scheme.

The currently-intended general LAA approach at 3GPP is to make use of the already specified Rel-12 carrier aggregation (CA) framework as much as possible, where the CA framework configuration as explained before comprises a so-called primary cell (PCell) carrier and one or more secondary cell (SCell) carriers. CA supports in general both self-scheduling of cells (scheduling information and user data are transmitted on the same component carrier) and cross-carrier scheduling between cells (scheduling information in terms of PDCCH/EPDCCH and user data in terms of PDSCH/PUSCH are transmitted on different component carriers).

A very basic scenario is illustrated in FIG. 4, with a licensed PCell, licensed SCell 1, and various unlicensed SCells 2, 3, and 4 (exemplarily depicted as small cells). The transmission/reception network nodes of unlicensed SCells 2, 3, and 4 could be remote radio heads managed by the eNB or could be nodes that are attached to the network but not managed by the eNB. For simplicity, the connection of these nodes to the eNB or to the network is not explicitly shown in the figure.

At present, the basic approach envisioned at 3GPP is that the PCell will be operated on a licensed band while one or more SCells will be operated on unlicensed bands. One benefit of this strategy is that the PCell can be used for reliable transmission of control messages and user data with high quality of service (QoS) demands, such as for example voice and video, while an SCell on unlicensed spectrum might yield, depending on the scenario, to some extent significant QoS reduction due to inevitable coexistence with other RATs.

It has been agreed that the LAA will focus on unlicensed bands at 5 GHz. One of the most critical issues is therefore the coexistence with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) systems operating at these unlicensed bands. In order to support fair coexistence between LTE and other technologies such as Wi-Fi as well as to guarantee fairness between different LTE operators in the same unlicensed band, the channel access of LTE for unlicensed bands has to abide by certain sets of regulatory rules which may partly depend on the geographical region and particular frequency band; a comprehensive description of the regulatory requirements for all regions for operation on unlicensed bands at 5 GHz is given in R1-144348, “Regulatory Requirements for Unlicensed Spectrum”, Alcatel-Lucent et al., RAN1#78bis, September 2014 incorporated herein by reference as well as the 3GPP Technical Report 36.889, current version 13.0.0. Depending on region and band, regulatory requirements that have to be taken into account when designing LAA procedures comprise Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), Transmit Power Control (TPC), Listen Before Talk (LBT) and discontinuous transmission with limited maximum transmission duration. The intention of 3GPP is to target a single global framework for LAA which basically means that all requirements for different regions and bands at 5 GHz have to be taken into account for the system design.

For example, in Europe certain limits for the Nominal Channel Bandwidth is set, as apparent from section 4.3 of the European standard ETSI EN 301 893, current version 1.8.1, incorporated herein by reference. The Nominal Channel Bandwidth is the widest band of frequencies, inclusive of guard bands, assigned to a single channel. The Occupied Channel Bandwidth is the bandwidth containing 99% of the power of the signal. A device is permitted to operate in one or more adjacent or non-adjacent channels simultaneously.

The listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is defined as a mechanism by which an equipment applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check before using the channel. The CCA utilizes at least energy detection to determine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel in order to determine if a channel is occupied or clear, respectively. European and Japanese regulations at the moment mandate the usage of LBT in the unlicensed bands. Apart from regulatory requirements, carrier sensing via LBT is one way for fair sharing of the unlicensed spectrum and hence it is considered to be a vital feature for fair and friendly operation in the unlicensed spectrum in a single global solution framework.

In unlicensed spectrum, channel availability cannot always be guaranteed. In addition, certain regions such as Europe and Japan prohibit continuous transmissions and impose limits on the maximum duration of a transmission burst in the unlicensed spectrum. Hence, discontinuous transmission with limited maximum transmission duration is a required functionality for LAA. DFS is required for certain regions and bands in order to detect interference from radar systems and to avoid co-channel operation with these systems. The intention is furthermore to achieve a near-uniform loading of the spectrum. The DFS operation and corresponding requirements are associated with a master-slave principle. The master shall detect radar interference, can however rely on another device, associated with the master, to implement radar detection.

The operation on unlicensed bands at 5-GHz is in most regions limited to rather low transmit power levels compared to the operation on licensed bands which results in small coverage areas. Even if the licensed and unlicensed carriers were to be transmitted with identical power, usually the unlicensed carrier in the 5 GHz band would be expected to support a smaller coverage area than a licensed cell in the 2 GHz band due to increased path loss and shadowing effects for the signal. A further requirement for certain regions and bands is the use of TPC in order to reduce the average level of interference caused for other devices operating on the same unlicensed band.

Detailed information can be found in the harmonized European standard ETSI EN 301 893, current version 1.8.1, incorporated herein by reference.

Following this European regulation regarding LBT, devices have to perform a clear channel Assessment (CCA) before occupying the radio channel with a data transmission. It is only allowed to initiate a transmission on the unlicensed channel after detecting the channel as free based e.g., on energy detection. In particular, the equipment has to observe the channel for a certain minimum time (e.g., for Europe 20 μs, see ETSI 301 893, under clause 4.8.3) during the CCA. The channel is considered occupied if the detected energy level exceeds a configured CCA threshold (e.g., for Europe, −73 dBm/MHz, see ETSI 301 893, under clause 4.8.3), and conversely is considered to be free if the detected power level is below the configured CCA threshold. If the channel is determined as being occupied, it shall not transmit on that channel during the next Fixed Frame Period. If the channel is classified as free, the equipment is allowed to transmit immediately. The maximum transmit duration is restricted in order to facilitate fair resource sharing with other devices operating on the same band.

The energy detection for the CCA is performed over the whole channel bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz in unlicensed bands at 5 GHz), which means that the reception power levels of all subcarriers of an LTE OFDM symbol within that channel contribute to the evaluated energy level at the device that performed the CCA.

In addition to the CCA described above, it might be required to apply an additional extended CCA (ECCA) if the equipment is classified as Load Based Equipment (LBE) according to the description in ETSI 301 893, clause 4.9.2.2, incorporated herein by reference. The ECCA comprises an additional CCA observation time for the duration of a random factor N multiplied by a CCA observation time slot. N defines the number of clear idle slots resulting in a total idle period that has to be observed before initiating a transmission.

Furthermore, the total time during which an equipment has transmissions on a given carrier without re-evaluating the availability of that carrier (i.e., LBT/CCA) is defined as the Channel Occupancy Time (see ETSI 301 893, under clause 4.8.3.1). The Channel Occupancy Time shall be in the range of 1 ms to 10 ms, where the maximum Channel Occupancy Time could be e.g., 4 ms as currently defined for Europe. Furthermore, there is a minimum Idle time the UE is not allowed to transmit after a transmission on the unlicensed cell, the minimum Idle time being at least 5% of the Channel Occupancy Time. Towards the end of the Idle Period, the UE can perform a new CCA, and so on. This transmission behavior is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5, the figure being taken from ETSI EN 301 893 (there FIG. 2: “Example of timing for Frame Based Equipment”).

FIG. 6 illustrates the timing between a Wi-Fi transmission and LAA UE transmissions on a particular frequency band (unlicensed cell). As can be seen from FIG. 5, after the Wi-Fi burst, a CCA gap is at least necessary before the eNB “reserves” the unlicensed cell by e.g., transmitting a reservation signal until the next subframe boundary. Then, the actual LAA DL burst is started. This would similarly apply to an LTE UE which after successfully performing the CCA, would reserve the subframe by transmitting the reservation signal so as to then start the actual LAA UL burst.

Uplink Scheduling in Unlicensed Cells

DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, and 4B are provided for eLAA so as to support uplink transmissions (PUSCH) for single subframe and multiple subframe grants and respectively single and multiple antenna ports.

-   -   DCI Format 0A: Single subframe, single antenna port     -   DCI Format 0B: Multiple subframe, single antenna port     -   DCI Format 4A: Single subframe, multiple antenna ports     -   DCI Format 4B: Multiple subframe, multiple antenna ports

Details on these DCI format can be found in 3GPP technical standard TS 36.212 v14.0.0, sections 5.3.3.1.1A, 5.3.3.1.1B, 5.3.3.1.8A, 5.3.3.1.8B, incorporated herein by reference.

Any of these DCI formats (i.e., Uplink grants) can be either a single-stage grant or be part of a two-stage grant. In the current exemplary implementations in LTE (see TS 36.212), this is reflected by the “PUSCH trigger A”-field, which is a 1-bit field differentiating whether the received Uplink grant is for “a non-triggered scheduling”, when the bit value is 0 (i.e., single-stage uplink grant) or is for “triggered scheduling”, when the bit value is 1 (i.e., two-stage uplink grant). This can be controlled by the eNB, which is the responsible radio network entity for the scheduling of radio resources to the UE.

The two-stage uplink scheduling procedure requires two separate messages (“Trigger A” and “Trigger B”) to be received in a specific manner by the UE so as to schedule one uplink transmission.

The trigger-A-message can be any of the above-noted uplink grants (i.e., DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B). In connection with this two-stage grant, the four DCI Formats include the following data fields, as presently defined in the technical standard TS 36.212 v14.0.0:

“PUSCH trigger A—1 bit, where value 0 indicates non-triggered scheduling and value 1 indicates triggered scheduling as defined in section 8.0 of [3].

-   -   Timing offset—4 bits as defined in [3]         -   When the flag for triggered scheduling is set to 0,             -   The field indicates the absolute timing offset for the                 PUSCH transmission.         -   Otherwise,             -   The first two bits of the field indicate the relative                 timing offset for the PUSCH transmission.             -   The last two bits of the field indicate the time window                 within which the scheduling of PUSCH via triggered                 scheduling is valid”

In addition, the available DCI Formats for the trigger-A message also include the usual data fields for indicating the radio resources that are scheduled for an uplink transmission, such as the “Resource block assignment” field, the “modulation and coding scheme” field, “HARQ process number” field etc. Moreover, the DCI formats 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B (particularly the DCI CRC) can be scrambled with a UE specific identity (such as the C-RNTI), such that the corresponding uplink grants are addressed to a specific UE.

The trigger-B-message has the DCI Format 1C as currently defined in TS 36.212 v14.0.0, section 5.3.3.1.4, incorporated herein by reference. The DCI Format 1C, as currently defined in the technical standard for use within the scope of unlicensed carrier transmissions, including a two-stage grant procedure, is as follows:

“Else

-   -   Subframe configuration for LAA—4 bits as defined in section 13A         of [3]     -   Uplink transmission duration and offset indication—5 bits as         defined in section 13A of [3]. The field only applies to a UE         configured with uplink transmission on a LAA SCell     -   PUSCH trigger B—1 bit as defined in section 8.0 of [3]. The         field only applies to a UE configured with uplink transmission         on a LAA SCell     -   Reserved information bits are added until the size is equal to         that of format 1C used for very compact scheduling of one PDSCH         codeword”

The trigger B message (DCI Format 1C), when being used as described above as part of the two-stage grant procedure, is usually not addressed to a specific UE but rather a shared identity (in this case the CC-RNTI; Common Control RNTI, which is an RNTI to be used in the context of providing common control PDCCH information; see 3GPP TS 36.321 v14.0.0, incorporated herein by reference) can be used by the eNB to scramble the DCI Format 1C, particularly the CRC thereof.

The cross-reference “[3]” in the above citations of TS 36.212 refers to the technical standard 3GPP TS 36.213, current version 14.0.0, of which at least sections 8.0 and 13 are relevant to the two-stage grants and are thus incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Particularly, section 8 of TS 36.213 defines in great detail for an LAA SCell when and how an uplink transmission (i.e., PUSCH) is to be performed:

“For a serving cell that is a LAA SCell, a UE shall

-   -   upon detection of an PDCCH/EPDCCH with DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B         and with ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘0’ in subframe n         intended for the UE, or     -   upon detection of PDCCH/EPDCCH with DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B and         with ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘1’ in the most recent         subframe from subframe n-v intended for the UE, and upon         detection of PDCCH with DCI CRC scrambled by CC-RNTI and with         ‘PUSCH trigger B’ field set to ‘1’ in subframe n

perform a corresponding PUSCH transmission, conditioned on the channel access procedures described in clause 15.2.1, in subframe(s) n+l+k+i with i=0, 1, . . . , N−1 according to the PDCCH/EPDCCH and HARQ process ID mod (n_(HARQ_ID)+i,N_(HARQ))

where

-   -   N=1 for DCI format 0A/4A, and value of N is determined by the         ‘number of scheduled subframes’ field in the corresponding DCI         format 0B/4B.         -   The UE is configured the maximum value of N by higher layer             parameter maxNumberOfSchedSubframes-FormatOB for DCI format             0B and higher layer parameter             maxNumberOfSchedSubframes-Format4B for DCI format 4B;     -   value of k is determined by the scheduling delay field in the         corresponding DCI 0A/0B/4A/4B according to Table 8.2d if ‘PUSCH         trigger A’ field set to ‘0’ or Table 8.2e otherwise;     -   value of n_(HARQ_ID) is determined by the HARQ process number         field in the corresponding DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B and         N_(HARQ)=16;     -   for ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘0’ in the corresponding DCI         format 0A/0B/4A/4B,         -   1=4     -   otherwise         -   value of 1 is the UL offset as determined by the ‘UL             configuration for LAA’ field in the corresponding DCI with             CRC scrambled by CC-RNTI according to the procedure in             subclause 13A, and ‘PUSCH trigger B’ field set to ‘1’,         -   value of v is determined by the validation duration field in             the corresponding PDCCH/EPDCCH with DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B             according to Table 8.2f, and ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to             ‘1’         -   the smallest value of l+k supported by the UE is included in             the UE-EUTRA-Capability

TABLE 8.2d k for DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B with ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘0’. Value of ‘scheduling delay’ field k 0000 0 0001 1 0010 2 0011 3 0100 4 0101 5 0110 6 0111 7 1000 8 1001 9 1010 10 1011 11 1100 12 1101 13 1110 14 1111 15

TABLE 8.2e k for DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B with ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘1’. Value of ‘scheduling delay’ field k 00 0 01 1 10 2 11 3

TABLE 8.2f v for DCI format 0A/0B/4A/4B with ‘PUSCH trigger A’ field set to ‘1’. Value of ‘validation duration’ field v 00 8 01 12 10 16 11 20

The current 3GPP technical standards thus define in great detail how a two-stage grant procedure is to be performed. It should be however noted that the above provided definition of two-stage grant procedures as currently standardized is subject to a continuous change and improvement and thus may change in the future. Consequently, the above cited implementation of the two-stage grant procedure according to the current 3GPP technical standards is to be merely considered as an implementation example, where many details are of less importance to the present disclosure.

Nevertheless, for the present disclosure it is assumed that the basic concept behind the two-stage grant procedure will remain the same as discussed above. In particular, the basic concept will be explained in connection with FIG. 7, which illustrates the functioning of a two-stage grant including the transmission and reception of DCIs including trigger A and trigger B messages. For the following exemplary discussion it is assumed that the illustrated subframes are numbered by taking the subframe at which the trigger B (i.e., the second stage uplink scheduling message) is received in the UE, as reference subframe n; the preceding and subsequent subframes are numbered accordingly. It is further assumed that the trigger A message is received at subframe n−3, and that a time window of length v is defined within which the two-stage grant procedure can be validly performed. Put differently, the time window can be seen as defining the time period during which a trigger B message can be received so as to actually trigger a corresponding uplink transmission, based on the transmission parameters indicated by the trigger A and/or trigger B messages.

The time window length v can exemplarily be indicated within the trigger A message, as exemplified above by the last 2 bits of the timing offset field of the DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B in TS 36.212 and Table 8.2.f of TS 36.213.

When the trigger B message is received at subframe n, the UE will determine whether a related trigger A message was received by the UE within the time window of length v (starting immediately before the reception of the trigger B message, i.e., ranging from n−1 to n-v). In the illustrated scenario, the trigger A scheduling message was received in subframe n−3 and thus within the time window, thereby triggering the uplink transmission in the UE. The uplink transmission (i.e., PUSCH) is then performed with a particular transmission timing offset at subframe n+offset. The UE may perform the uplink transmission according to the information received in the trigger A message and trigger B message, e.g., using the indicated radio resources and modulation and coding scheme etc.

The exact PUSCH timing offset is of less importance to the present disclosure. Exemplarily, as currently standardized in TS 36.213, the PUSCH timing offset is “l+k+i”, where the parameter 1 is defined by the trigger B message (see “Uplink transmission duration and offset indication” field of DCI Format 1C in TS 36.212 and Table 13A-2 of TS 36.213), where the parameter k is defined by the trigger a message (see the first 2 bits of the “Timing offset” field of any of the DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, and 4B in TS 36.212, as well as Table 8.2e in TS 36.213). Parameter i is applicable in case that multiple uplink subframes are scheduled by a two-stage uplink scheduling procedure, and in that case is running from 0 to the number of granted subframes minus 1 (otherwise it is just 0). More details can be derived from the above cited section 8 of TS 36.213. However, the PUSCH timing offset for performing the uplink transmission according to this two-stage uplink scheduling procedure may also be defined differently or may be even predetermined.

As mentioned above, 3GPP has defined a two-stage scheduling procedure for uplink transmissions in unlicensed cells. This two-stage scheduling procedure however can be further improved.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Non-limiting and exemplary embodiments provide improved methods, user equipments, and radio base stations involved in scheduling uplink transmissions to be performed by the user equipments in unlicensed cells. The independent claims provide non-limiting and exemplary embodiments. Advantageous embodiments are subject to the dependent claims.

According to several implementations of the aspects described herein, the scheduling of uplink transmissions via unlicensed cells is improved.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a user equipment for being scheduled with uplink radio resources. At least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and a radio base station that is responsible for scheduling uplink radio resources on the unlicensed cell. A receiver of the UE receives from the radio base station a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell. A processor of the UE determines whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid or not, which comprises determining that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are set to respectively predetermined values. The receiver receives from the radio base station a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message which is related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message. The processor determines, when receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, that an uplink transmission is scheduled in case the processor determined that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid. A transmitter of the UE performs, in case it determined that an uplink transmission is scheduled, an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell according to the uplink radio resources indicated in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a radio base station for scheduling a user equipment with uplink radio resources on an unlicensed cell. At least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and the radio base station. A processor of the radio base station generates a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell. The generating comprises setting one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to respectively predetermined values. That way, the user equipment is able to determine that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case the one or more bits of the one or more data fields are confirmed to be set to the respective predetermined values. A transmitter of the radio base station transmits the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment. The processor generates a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message. The transmitter transmits the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a method for operating a user equipment for being scheduled with uplink radio resources. At least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and a radio base station that is responsible for scheduling uplink radio resources on the unlicensed cell. The method comprises the following steps performed by the user equipment. The UE receives from the radio base station a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell. The UE determines whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid or not, which comprises determining that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are set to respectively predetermined values. The UE receives from the radio base station a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message which is related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message. The UE determines, when receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, that an uplink transmission is scheduled in case the processor determined that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid. The UE performs, in case it is determined that an uplink transmission is scheduled, an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell according to the uplink radio resources indicated in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature a method for operating a radio base station for scheduling a user equipment with uplink radio resources on an unlicensed cell. At least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and the radio base station. The method comprises the following steps performed by the radio base station. The rear base station generates a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell. The generating comprises setting one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to respectively predetermined values, for allowing the user equipment to determine that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case the one or more bits of the one or more data fields are confirmed to be set to the respective predetermined values. The radio base station transmits the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment. The radio base station generates a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message. The radio base station transmits the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent from the specification and figures. The benefits and/or advantages may be individually provided by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings disclosure, and need not all be provided in order to obtain one or more of the same.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, a method, and a computer program, and any combination of systems, methods, and computer programs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following exemplary embodiments are described in more detail with reference to the attached figures and drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary architecture of a 3GPP LTE system,

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary downlink resource grid of a downlink slot of a subframe as defined for 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9),

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary uplink resource grid of an uplink slot of a subframe as defined for 3GPP LTE,

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary LAA scenario with several licensed and unlicensed cells,

FIG. 5 illustrates the transmission behavior for an LAA transmission,

FIG. 6 illustrates the timing between a Wi-Fi transmission and LAA UE downlink burst for an unlicensed cell,

FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates the two-stage uplink scheduling procedure as provided for uplink transmissions via unlicensed cells,

FIG. 8 is an exemplary and simplified flow diagram illustrating the UE behavior according to an embodiment,

FIG. 9 is an exemplary and simplified flow diagram illustrating the eNodeB behavior according to an embodiment,

FIG. 10 is an exemplary and simplified flow diagram illustrating the UE behavior according to another embodiment, and

FIG. 11 is an exemplary and simplified flow diagram illustrating the UE behavior according to still another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment is a physical entity within a communication network. One node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and/or offers a predetermined set of functions to other functional entities of a node or the network. Nodes may have one or more interfaces that attach the node to a communication facility or medium over which nodes can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have a logical interface attaching the functional entity to a communication facility or medium over which it may communicate with other functional entities or correspondent nodes.

The term “radio resources” as used in the set of claims and in the application is to be broadly understood as referring to physical radio resources, such as time-frequency resources.

The term “unlicensed cell” or alternatively “unlicensed carrier” as used in the set of claims and in the application is to be understood broadly as a cell/carrier operated in an unlicensed frequency band, with a particular frequency bandwidth. Correspondingly, the term “licensed cell” or alternatively “licensed carrier” as used in the set of claims and in the application is to be understood broadly as a cell/carrier operated in a licensed frequency band, with a particular frequency bandwidth. Exemplarily, these terms are to be understood in the context of 3GPP as of Release 12/13 and the Licensed-Assisted Access Work Item.

The term “first-stage uplink resource scheduling message” as used in the set of claims and in the application is to be understood broadly as a message corresponding to the first stage of a multi-stage (in this case two-stage) uplink scheduling procedure. The term “trigger A message” is used interchangeably as well. Correspondingly, the term “second-stage uplink resource scheduling message” as used in the set of claims and in the application is to be understood broadly as a message corresponding to the second stage of the multi-stage (in this case two-stage) uplink scheduling procedure. The term “trigger B message” is used interchangeably as well. Alternatively, the terms “first-stage message” and “second-stage message” of the uplink resource scheduling can be used respectively to denote the trigger A and trigger B messages.

As explained in the background section, 3GPP is currently in the process of enhancing the licensed-assisted access (LAA) also for the uplink and has foreseen a two-stage uplink resource allocation procedure in which two separate uplink resource allocation messages are transmitted by the eNB to trigger one uplink transmission (briefly denoted e.g., Trigger A and Trigger B as introduced in the background section). The two-stage uplink scheduling procedure (as exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 7) is not optimal as will be explained in the following.

When the eNB transmits a Trigger B message, any UE that received a Trigger A message up to v subframes earlier will be scheduled to perform an uplink transmission. In particular, while the trigger A message is UE-specific, the trigger B message is not. Thus, even if the trigger B message is transmitted for the purpose of scheduling an uplink transmission in connection with a specific previously-transmitted trigger A message (or a plurality thereof addressed to different UEs), other UEs that also receive this trigger B message may wrongly consider that the trigger B message is related to a previously received trigger A message.

This problem is also present in the case that a UE has falsely detected a trigger A message. In particular, a UE, when receiving a DCI message of Format 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B that shall not be a Trigger A message, may wrongly determine the content of the “PUSCH trigger A” field (“1” instead of “0”) (e.g., due to transmission errors), thereby concluding erroneously that it received a trigger A message. It will then, when receiving a trigger B message (possibly intended for another UE), perform an uplink transmission (provided the trigger A message was received in the time window of length v before reception of the trigger B message; see also FIG. 7). A falsely detected trigger A message is particularly problematic if it causes a multi-subframe transmission, as supported by DCI messages of Formats 0B and 4B.

These erroneous uplink transmissions by the UE (be they single subframe or multi subframe) were not intended by the eNodeB which thus can lead to intracell and intercell interference with transmissions of other UEs. It may also affect the coexistence with other unlicensed technologies (e.g., WiFi).

In addition, any corresponding UL-SCH Transport Blocks transmitted as a result from such an unintended transmissions are not expected by the eNodeB, and consequently, the eNodeB may never receive those UL-SCH Transport Blocks. To resolve this, a higher-layer retransmission protocol is needed to convey the corresponding data after the lower-layer retransmission protocols have unsuccessfully timed out, causing extra delay and potentially channel occupancy time.

The following exemplary embodiments are conceived by the inventor to mitigate one or more of the problems explained above.

Particular implementations of the various embodiments are to be implemented in the wide specification as given by the 3GPP standards and explained partly in the background section, with the particular key features being added as explained in the following embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments may be advantageously used for example in a mobile communication system, such as 3GPP LTE-A (Release 10/11/12/13/14 and later releases) communication systems as described in the Technical Background section above, but the embodiments are not limited to its use in these particular exemplary communication networks.

The explanations should not be understood as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but as a mere example of embodiments to better understand the present disclosure. A skilled person is aware that the general principles of the present disclosure as generally outlined in the set of claims and in the explanations given in the description can be applied to different scenarios and in ways that are not explicitly described in the following. For illustration and explanation purposes, several assumptions are made which however shall not unduly restrict the scope of the following embodiments.

The various embodiments mainly provide an improved uplink scheduling procedure for unlicensed cells, particularly when using two-stage resource allocations. Other functionality (i.e., functionality not changed by the various embodiments) may remain exactly the same as explained in the background section or may be changed without any consequences to the various embodiments, for instance functions and procedures defining how the uplink transmission is actually performed (e.g., segmentation, modulation, coding, beamforming, multiplexing) or functions and procedures that allow the UE to transmit in unlicensed cells in the first place (e.g., RRC configuration, LBT, CCA etc.).

In the following, an embodiment for solving the above problem(s) will be described in detail, which will be explained by using the following exemplary scenario, devised to easily explain the principles of the embodiment. The principles however can also be applied to other scenarios, some of which will be explicitly mentioned in the following.

As explained in the background section, 3GPP has enhanced current systems by introducing LAA, licensed-assisted access, as well as eLAA for uplink transmissions using unlicensed cells being operated on channel(s) in the unlicensed frequency spectrum. In the following, a scenario is assumed where the UE is configured with at least one unlicensed cell and optionally with at least one further licensed cell. Several UEs may be communicating with the eNB via the unlicensed cell. Although the following explanations are based on such a scenario, the different embodiments also apply to scenarios where the unlicensed cell is operated in a standalone manner (i.e., without being assisted by a corresponding licensed cell). The unlicensed cell can be configured between the eNodeB and the UE in the usual manner as described in the background section. Accordingly, the unlicensed cell is operated on a particular channel in the unlicensed frequency spectrum.

It is further assumed that uplink transmissions, to be performed by UEs via unlicensed cells, are scheduled by the eNB in a suitable manner, which also includes the use of two-stage grants as explained in the background section and in the context of the problems that are identified for two-stage grants The following embodiments shall improve the two-stage uplink scheduling procedure such that the false-detection risk for the first message (i.e., trigger A) is reduced, so as to avoid unwanted uplink transmissions from UEs after receiving the second message (i.e., trigger B message) of the two-stage uplink scheduling procedure.

The gist of the embodiments revolves around the idea of using one or more bits of one or more data fields of the trigger A message to allow the UE to additionally verify that the received message is indeed a trigger A message. Correspondingly, the eNodeB, when generating the trigger A message, sets these one or more bits of the one or more data fields (exemplarily termed in the following “verification data fields”; alternatively “validation data fields”) to respectively predetermined values. Other data fields of the trigger A message may be set by the eNodeB in accordance with the uplink resource scheduling procedure performed in the usual manner. For instance, exemplarily assuming that the trigger A message (and not the trigger B message) shall convey such information, the trigger A message may further indicate suitable uplink resources that are usable by the UE to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell; and/or a corresponding HARQ process may be indicated; and/or a suitable modulation and coding scheme can be instructed; and/or cross carrier scheduling can be performed by setting the suitable carrier indicator bits; etc. The trigger A message is then transmitted from the eNodeB to the UE.

The UE then, upon receiving the trigger A message, uses the content of the one or more verification data fields to verify whether the received trigger A message is indeed a valid trigger A message or not. Correspondingly, the UE determines whether the verification data fields are set to the respectively predetermined values or not. In case the bit(s) of the verification data field(s) coincide with the predetermined values, the UE considers the received trigger A message to be valid, and conversely, in case the bit(s) of the verification data field(s) do not coincide with the predetermined values, the UE considers the received trigger A message to be invalid. Only a trigger A message that was not considered invalid can—together with the corresponding trigger B message received in a timely manner afterwards—schedule an uplink transmission.

The scenario of FIG. 7 can be reused to explain the embodiments. After the eNodeB has transmitted the trigger A message at subframe n−3 with the bits(s) of the verification data field(s) set accordingly, it may transmit the corresponding trigger B message three subframes later, at subframe n. For instance, the eNB may detect that the channel of the unlicensed cell is free to use, and will then determine to finally schedule the UE by transmitting a suitable trigger B message at subframe n.

The UE will receive the trigger B message accordingly, and then shall determine whether an uplink transmission is indeed intended to be scheduled by the eNB. As explained above, one requirement for successfully triggering an uplink transmission in the UE is that the UE verifies the previously received trigger A message to be indeed a trigger A message using the verification data field(s) as generally explained above. Consequently, the UE determines that the uplink transmission is indeed scheduled, in case at least the trigger A message was verified to be valid (and the trigger A message is not invalidated for another reason). As a result, the UE will prepare and perform the uplink transmission in accordance with any transmission parameters indicated in the trigger A message and/or trigger B message; e.g., using the radio resources on the unlicensed cell as indicated.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplarily the UE behavior and the main steps to be performed by the UE so as to allow the scheduling of uplink radio resources to the UE for performing an uplink transmission via an unlicensed cell using the improved two-stage uplink scheduling procedure according to the embodiment(s) explained above. As apparent from FIG. 8, the UE shall receive both the trigger A message (i.e., termed first-stage message of uplink resource allocation in the figure) and the trigger B message (i.e., termed second-stage message of uplink resource allocation in the figure). According to the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 8, the verification/validation of the trigger A message is performed after receiving the trigger B message, by determining whether the verification data field(s) are set to predetermined values or not. In the affirmative case (“Yes” in figure), the trigger A message is considered valid, and the UE may proceed to perform the uplink transmission. In the negative case (“No” in figure), the trigger A message is considered invalid, and the UE shall not perform the uplink transmission but may await further trigger A and/or trigger B messages.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating exemplarily the eNB behavior and the main steps to be performed by the eNB as to schedule uplink radio resources to the UE for performing an uplink transmission via an unlicensed cell using the improved two-stage uplink scheduling procedure according to the embodiment(s) explained above. As apparent from FIG. 9, the eNB can prepare the trigger A message (i.e., termed first-stage message of uplink resource allocation) for the UE, which includes the setting of the one or more bits of the one or more particular data fields to predetermined values so as to allow the verifying of the trigger A message at the UE. The trigger A message is then transmitted to the UE. Afterwards, the eNB—when deciding to finally schedule the uplink transmission for the UE—prepares and transmits the trigger B message (i.e., termed second-stage message of uplink resource allocation in the figure) to the UE. If the UE behaves accordingly and performs the uplink transmission, e.g., to the eNB, the eNB may receive the uplink transmission, scheduled before, from the UE (not illustrated).

By providing additional verification data bits to verify the trigger A message, the false detection rate (risk) is reduced. The amount of false detection reduction depends on the number of bits that are used for the verification. The more bits are used for the verification, the more the false-detection of a trigger A message is reduced. In particular, one verification bit (either with the predetermined value 0 or 1) halves the risk etc. Consequently, the amount of bits that shall be foreseen for improving the detection of the trigger A message in the UE depends on the level of reliability that shall be achieved. Moreover, as will become apparent from later discussion, there is a tradeoff between the improved trigger A message detection and the loss of those verification bits that can/could be used for other purposes.

In the above, a general embodiment and its advantages has been explained. In the following, variations of this general embodiment will be explained, e.g., providing more detailed implementations, providing an exemplary implementation in existing 3GPP communication systems, or providing further advantages.

Advantageous embodiments differ with regard to which and how many bits of which data fields are to be used for the verification. In general, one or more specific bits belonging to one or more specific data fields within the trigger A message can be used in said respect, taking into account that the eNB as well as the UEs should know in advance which are exactly used. Depending on the actual implementation, for example a specific data field having one or more bits can foresee in a trigger A message, which is then set by the eNB accordingly and which content is then checked by the UE to additionally verify the trigger A message.

In an exemplary implementation in the 3GPP communication system as explained in the background section, the trigger A message is a message according to one of the DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B. As apparent from the background section, and particularly from the corresponding 3GPP technical standard TS 36.212, each of these DCI formats defines data fields usable for specific purposes. Put briefly, according to advantageous embodiments, one or more of these data fields are reused to convey the verification bits, as will be explained in the following.

A suitable data field to be used for trigger A message verification is the CSI request data field, which is 1, 2, or 3 bits and can be used to control aperiodic reporting of channel state information using PUCSH. Details on how the CSI request data field shall be usually employed by the eNB and UE is apparent from section 7.2.1 of TS 36.213 v14.0.0, incorporated herein by reference. In brief, whether the CSI request data field includes 1, 2, or 3 bits depends on different configuration or system parameters. For example, the 3-bit field applies to UEs that are configured with more than five DL cells and when the corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search space given by the C-RNTI as defined in 3GPP TS 36.213. The 2-bit field applies to UEs configured with no more than five DL cells and to

-   -   UEs that are configured with more than one DL cell and when the         corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search         space given by the C-RNTI as defined in 3GPP TS 36.213;     -   UEs that are configured by higher layers with more than one CSI         process and when the corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the         UE specific search space given by the C-RNTI as defined in 3GPP         TS 36.213;     -   UEs that are configured with two CSI measurement sets by higher         layers with the parameter csi-MeasSubframeSet, and when the         corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search         space given by the C-RNTI as defined in 3GPP TS 36.213. The         1-bit field applies otherwise.

One or more bits of the CSI request field of any DCI Format 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B can be used according to the embodiments to implement the additional trigger A message verification. It may not be advantageous to only use less than all available bits of the CSI request field. Especially for the CSI request in an LTE system using triggered scheduling, the subframe containing the CSI report is only fully known after the reception of the trigger B message. However, the time reference for the CSI report is defined as a function of the transmission time of the CSI report, i.e., of the subframe conveying the CSI report. Since the calculation of a CSI report is quite complex, it is a rather demanding task on the signal processing capabilities, especially if the time between the reception of the trigger B message and the intended CSI reporting subframe is less than 4 subframes. To avoid these issues for the UE implementation, it is more feasible if the UE can always assume that a triggered scheduling procedure will never request a CSI report. Consequently, in one advantageous implementation, all bits that are available in the CSI request field are used for the trigger A message verification.

Alternatively or additionally, a suitable data field to be used for trigger A message verification is the SRS request data field, which is 1 or 2 bits long depending on the actual DCI Format, and which is used in connection with the UE sounding procedure so as to allow the eNB to request the UE to transmit a sounding reference signal, as e.g., currently defined in section 8.2 of TS 36.213 v14.0.0 incorporated herein by reference. The one or two bits can be used according to the embodiments to implement the additional verification. It may not be advantageous to only use less than all available bits of the SRS request data field considering that any SRS transmitted by a UE in a subframe may prohibit the successful reception of PUSCH data from other UEs and SRS from the triggered UE at least on those resources that are occupied by SRS due to the mutually generated interference Consequently, in one advantageous implementation, all bits that are available in the SRS request field are used for the trigger A message verification, and SRS triggering in a triggered scheduling procedure is effectively disabled. However, if the scheduler can avoid the interference by accepting the corresponding restrictions on the scheduling flexibility, it is possible for the system to keep a limited SRS triggering flexibility together with an improved trigger A message verification by using less than all available bits of the SRS request data field for the verification. The corresponding limited SRS triggering capability preferably represents at least the state that no SRS is triggered, and SRS configurability option(s) that is/are available if no SRS request data fields are used for trigger A message verification.

Alternatively or additionally, a suitable data field to be used for trigger A message verification is the TPC command data field, which is 2 bits long, and is used by the eNodeB to control uplink power used in the UE to perform uplink transmissions, as e.g., currently defined in section 5.1.1.1 of TS 36.213 v 14.0.0, incorporated herein by reference. One or 2 bits of the TPC command data field can be used according to the embodiments to implement the additional trigger A message verification. When using only one of the 2 bits of the TPC command field for the trigger A message verification, the remaining one bit can be still used to convey transmit power commands as initially intended by said field. As a result of reducing the TPC command field to only one bit, only two different TPC commands can be instructed to the UE, for instance+1 and −1 dB or any other suitable values.

Alternatively or additionally, a suitable data field to be used for trigger A message verification is the Timing Offset field, used in the context of the two-stage uplink scheduling procedure as previously defined in the background section. Particularly, the timing offset field is 4 bits long, wherein, in case of triggered scheduling, the first two bits of the timing offset field normally indicate the relative timing offset for the PUSCH transmission, while the last two bits normally indicate the time window within which the scheduling of PUSCH via triggered scheduling is valid. One or more bits of the timing offset field can be used according to the embodiments to implement the additional trigger A message verification. According to an advantageous limitation thereof, only one bit of the first two bits of the timing offset field shall be reused for the trigger A message verification, such that the remaining bit could still be used to indicate a relative timing offset for the PUSCH transmission as initially intended by said field. As a result of reducing the timing offset field to only one bit, only two different timing offset values can be instructed, for instance any value from the values currently specified in Table 8.2e in the current 3GPP specification TS 36.213 section 8; the relative timing offset “k” with 2 bits can take the values 0, 1, 2, or 3. As explained before in detail, the PUSCH transmission is performed after receiving the trigger B message including a particular timing offset which according to the current specification in section 8 of 3GPP TS 36.213, amounts to “l+k+i” subframes. When disregarding for the moment the value of the parameter i which is not dependent on the actual two-stage grant procedure, the timing offset is configured to by using the two parameters 1 and k. The parameter 1 as part of the trigger B message can distinguish between the values 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. In order to still cover the smallest and largest total delay (l+k), the reduced field for indicating the relative timing offset, having one bit only, shall advantageously distinguish between the values k=0 and k=3. In that case, the total delay can be {1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 9}.

Additionally, or alternatively, instead of having a fixed association, the actual timing offset value [0, 1, 2, or 3] that is associated with each bit value [0 or 1] of the reduced timing offset field can be configured, e.g., by the eNodeB, for instance using higher layer signaling such as RRC.

Messages according to the DCI Formats 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B include further fields that could theoretically be reused for the purpose of the additional verification. However, the data fields mentioned above are the most advantageous ones.

One possible drawback of reusing data fields initially intended for other purposes (see above CSI requesting, SRS request, TCP command) is that this field cannot be used anymore as initially intended (when being used for a trigger A message verification). However, this drawback is not as severe in view of that the eNodeB is able to convey the necessary information (be it CSI request, SRS request, TPC command etc.) in another way, e.g., Within another DCI message. For instance, even if e trigger A messages of the two-stage uplink resource allocation do no longer allow to request a CSI/SRS, the eNodeB can request the CSI/SRS by using one-stage uplink resource allocation messages e.g., for the licensed or unlicensed cell. The same basically applies to the reusing of the TPC field. As a result, the overall functionality available to the eNodeB is not lost for the system. Rather, the eNodeB may simply use other messages to convey the corresponding requests and commands.

Moreover, the embodiments can also vary as to the time at which the verification of the trigger A message is performed. In particular, the determination of whether the first stage uplink scheduling message is valid or not based on the particular verification data field(s), can be performed at any suitable time. Although in the description so far and particularly in FIG. 8 the verification of the trigger A message is described as being performed immediately upon receiving the trigger B message, the verification procedure can also be performed at another time as long as it is done in a timely manner to decide on whether the two-stage-triggered uplink transmission is to be performed or not. For instance, the verification can be performed when receiving the trigger A message or at any time after having received the trigger A message but before receiving the trigger B message. The approaches are functionally equivalent; performing the verification upon the trigger A message reception is beneficial in that after the reception of a trigger B message, no trigger A verification steps are necessary that may delay the response to the trigger B, however it implies processing the verification steps even if no trigger B command is received in the subsequent subframe. Performing the verification upon the trigger B message reception has the advantage of processing the verification steps only if the PUSCH transmission is detected to be triggered by a second stage DCI, but requires processing steps for verification before the PUSCH transmission itself can be processed.

Although not specifically mentioned before, the two-stage uplink resource scheduling procedure as explained so far may optionally also implement a time window during which the two-stage triggered scheduling has to occur. In particular, a time window of length v is given (e.g., as indicated by the trigger A message, e.g., in the last two bits of its timing offset field; see TS 36.212), during which both the trigger A and trigger B messages of the two-stage uplink resource scheduling procedure have to be received. Correspondingly, as exemplarily implemented in the 3GPP standards, the UE, upon receiving the trigger B message, determines whether it was received within the indicated time window after receiving a corresponding trigger A message (or put the other way around, whether a corresponding trigger A message was received within a time window before the UE received the trigger B message). In case the trigger B message was received too late (i.e., a corresponding trigger A message was not received within the time window before having received the trigger B message), the two-stage scheduling is not valid and a corresponding uplink transmission is not performed by the UE. This UE behavior is illustrated in the exemplary and simplified flow diagram of FIG. 10.

As mentioned before, the trigger A message is usually addressed to a specific UE, which can be done in the usual manner by masking the CRC of the DCI message with a UE-specific identity, such as the C-RNTI. The trigger B message on the other hand is not UE-specific, but commonly addressed to a plurality of UEs; which also can be done in the usual manner by masking the CRC of the DCI message (Format 1C) with a common RNTI (such as the CC-RNTI).

Data integrity of any DCI message (including the trigger A and B messages) is usually verified using the cyclic redundancy check, CRC, bits in the DCI messages. This CRC verification is performed in addition to the trigger A message verification as explained above in connection with the embodiments. Only if both the CRC verification as well the verification of data field contents (see FIG. 8) are successful, the trigger A message is confirmed to be valid and the UE may proceed to perform the uplink transmission accordingly. This UE behavior is illustrated in the exemplary and simplified flow diagram of FIG. 11. The order of the steps for CRC verification and trigger A message verification can also be reversed.

The UE as well as the eNodeB need to know about the verification data fields and the corresponding predetermined values so as to allow the above improved two-stage grant procedure to function properly. This can be achieved in different manners. For instance, the particular bits and/or the particular data fields can be fixed in a corresponding technical standard (e.g., in TS 36.213) and thus available to the UE as part of its software/firmware. For example, the following exemplary table can be provided in the standard:

Special fields for triggered scheduling PDCCH/EPDCCH Validation

DCI Format 0A DCI Format 0B/4A/4B CSI request all bits set to ‘0’ all bits set to ‘0’ SRS request set to ‘0’ set to ‘00’

Alternatively, instead of fixing the one or more verification data field(s) and corresponding one or more bit(s), these can be in part or fully configurable by the eNB, for example by using higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling.

According to one specific implementation, the embodiment may be implemented in a 3GPP communication system as currently standardized.

Correspondingly, the standard TS 36.213 could be exemplary changed/extended as follows:

“A UE shall validate an assignment by PDCCH/EPDCCH if DCI Format 0A/0B/4A/4B is detected where all of the following conditions are met:

-   -   the CRC parity bits obtained for the PDCCH/EPDCCH payload are         scrambled with the C-RNTI     -   the PUSCH trigger A bit is set to ‘1’.         Validation is achieved if all the fields for the respective used         DCI are set according to Table A-1.         If validation is achieved, the UE shall consider the received         DCI information accordingly as valid.         If validation is not achieved, the received DCI shall be         considered by the UE as having been received with a non-matching         CRC.”

TABLE A-1 Special fields for triggered scheduling PDCCH/EPDCCH Validation DCI Format 0A DCI Format 0B/4A/4B CSI request all bits set to ‘0’ all bits set to ‘0’ SRS request set to ‘0’ set to ‘00’ “

In the above exemplary implementation all bits of the CSI request data field and the SRS request data field are used as the verification data fields as explained above.

Hardware and Software Implementation of the Present Disclosure

Other exemplary embodiments relate to the implementation of the above described various embodiments using hardware, software, or software in cooperation with hardware. In this connection a user terminal (mobile terminal) and an eNodeB (base station) are provided. The user terminal and base station is adapted to perform the methods described herein, including corresponding entities to participate appropriately in the methods, such as receiver, transmitter, processors.

It is further recognized that the various embodiments may be implemented or performed using computing devices (processors). A computing device or processor may for example be general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, etc. The various embodiments may also be performed or embodied by a combination of these devices. In particular, each functional block used in the description of each embodiment described above can be realized by an LSI as an integrated circuit. They may be individually formed as chips, or one chip may be formed so as to include a part or all of the functional blocks. They may include a data input and output coupled thereto. The LSI here may be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on a difference in the degree of integration. However, the technique of implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI and may be realized by using a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after the manufacture of the LSI or a reconfigurable processor in which the connections and the settings of circuits cells disposed inside the LSI can be reconfigured may be used.

Further, the various embodiments may also be implemented by means of software modules, which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. Also a combination of software modules and a hardware implementation may be possible. The software modules may be stored on any kind of computer readable storage media, for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. It should be further noted that the individual features of the different embodiments may individually or in arbitrary combination be subject matter to another embodiment.

It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as shown in the specific embodiments. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure. 

1. A user equipment for being scheduled with uplink radio resources, wherein at least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and a radio base station that is responsible for scheduling uplink radio resources on the unlicensed cell, wherein the user equipment comprises: a receiver, which in operation, receives from the radio base station a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell, a processor, which in operation, determines whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid or not, which comprises determining that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are set to respectively predetermined values, the receiver, which in operation, receives from the radio base station a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message which is related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, the processor, which in operation, determines, when receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, that an uplink transmission is scheduled in case the processor determined that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and a transmitter, which in operation, and in case the processor determined that an uplink transmission is scheduled, performs an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell according to the uplink radio resources indicated in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message.
 2. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined values of the one or more bits and the one or more data fields are fixed in the user equipment and the radio base station or are configured by the radio base station in the user equipment, optionally using higher-layer signaling.
 3. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are one of the following fields regularly defined for a resource scheduling message: a Channel State Information, CSI, request data field, requesting the transmission of a channel state information message from the user equipment, or a Sounding Reference Symbol, SRS, request data field, requesting the transmission of a sounding reference symbol from the user equipment, or a transmit power command, TPC, data field, indicating a change in the transmit power for the user equipment, or a timing offset data field, indicating a timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, optionally wherein one of two bits of the TPC data field is used for determining whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and the other of the two bits of the TPC data field is used for indicating a change in the transmit power for the user equipment, optionally wherein one of two bits of the timing offset data field is used for determining whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and the other of the two bits of the timing offset data field is used for determining the timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, optionally wherein the values of the timing offset associated with the other of the two bits of the timing offset data field are the lowest and highest value associated with the two bits of the timing offset data field or are configurable by the radio base station, optionally via Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling transmitted to the user equipment.
 4. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is addressed to the user equipment, and the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is commonly addressed to a plurality of user equipments, optionally wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is addressed to the user equipment by means of a user-equipment-specific identity employed in the transmission of the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, and wherein the user-equipment-specific identity is configurable; and optionally wherein the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is commonly addressed to a plurality of user equipments receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message by means of a shared identity employed in the transmission of the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, wherein the shared identity is pre-defined and common to a plurality of user equipments.
 5. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a time period prior to reception of the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message during which the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message can be considered together with the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, optionally wherein the processor determines that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message can be considered together with the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message in case the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is received within the indicated time period after reception of the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message.
 6. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, and wherein the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a further timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, optionally wherein the transmitter, when in operation, performs the uplink transmission at least after the sum of the timing offset and the further timing offset upon receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message.
 7. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is a downlink control information, DCI, message of format 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B, respectively comprising a first-stage flag indicating that the DCI message is a first message of a two-stages uplink resource scheduling, optionally wherein the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is a downlink control information, DCI, message of format 1C, comprising a second-stage flag indicating that the DCI message is a second message of a two-stages uplink resource scheduling.
 8. A radio base station for scheduling a user equipment with uplink radio resources on an unlicensed cell, wherein at least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and the radio base station, wherein the radio base station comprises: a processor, which in operation, generates a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell, wherein the generating comprises setting one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to respectively predetermined values, for allowing the user equipment to determine that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case the one or more bits of the one or more data fields are confirmed to be set to the respective predetermined values, a transmitter, which in operation, transmits the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment, the processor, which in operation, generates a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, the transmitter, when in operation, transmits the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message to the user equipment.
 9. The radio base station according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined values of the one or more bits and the one or more data fields are fixed in the user equipment and the radio base station or are configured by the radio base station in the user equipment, optionally using higher-layer signaling.
 10. The radio base station according to claim 8, wherein the one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are one of the following fields regularly defined for a resource scheduling message: a Channel State Information, CSI, request data field, requesting the transmission of a channel state information message from the user equipment, or a Sounding Reference Symbol, SRS, request data field, requesting the transmission of a sounding reference symbol from the user equipment, or a transmit power command, TPC, data field, indicating a change in the transmit power for the user equipment, or a timing offset data field, indicating a timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, optionally wherein one of two bits of the TPC data field is used for determining whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and the other of the two bits of the TPC data field is used for indicating a change in the transmit power for the user equipment, optionally wherein one of two bits of the timing offset data field is used for determining whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and the other of the two bits of the timing offset data field is used for indicating the timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, optionally wherein the values of the timing offset associated with the other of the two bits of the timing offset data field are the lowest and highest value associated with the two bits of the timing offset data field or are configurable by the radio base station, optionally via Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling transmitted to the user equipment.
 11. The radio base station according to claim 8, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is addressed to the user equipment, and the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is commonly addressed to a plurality of user equipments.
 12. The radio base station according to claim 8, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a time period prior to reception of the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message during which the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message can be considered together with the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message.
 13. The radio base station according to claim 8, wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, and wherein the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message indicates a further timing offset for the user equipment to perform the uplink transmission, such that the user equipment performs the uplink transmission at least after the sum of the timing offset and the further timing offset upon receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, optionally wherein the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is a downlink control information, DCI, message of format 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B, respectively comprising a first-stage flag indicating that the DCI message is a first message of a two-stages uplink resource scheduling, optionally wherein the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message is a downlink control information, DCI, message of format 1C, comprising a second-stage flag indicating that the DCI message is a second message of a two-stages uplink resource scheduling.
 14. A method for operating a user equipment for being scheduled with uplink radio resources, wherein at least one unlicensed cell is configured for communication between the user equipment and a radio base station that is responsible for scheduling uplink radio resources on the unlicensed cell, wherein the method comprises the following steps performed by the user equipment: receiving from the radio base station a first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, indicating uplink radio resources usable by the user equipment to perform an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell, determining whether the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid or not, which comprises determining that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid in case one or more bits of one or more data fields in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message are set to respectively predetermined values, receiving from the radio base station a second-stage uplink resource scheduling message which is related to the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message, determining, when receiving the second-stage uplink resource scheduling message, that an uplink transmission is scheduled in case the processor determined that the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message is valid, and performing, in case it is determined that an uplink transmission is scheduled, an uplink transmission via the unlicensed cell according to the uplink radio resources indicated in the first-stage uplink resource scheduling message.
 15. (canceled) 